Journal
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
Volume 99, Issue 8, Pages 721-728Publisher
CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2020-0263
Keywords
American black bear; Ursus americanus; predation; scavenging; moose; woodland caribou; neonate; calving; ungulate; beaver; berries; vegetation; ants; scat analysis; diet
Categories
Funding
- Wildlife Research and Monitoring Section
- Centre for Northern Forest Ecosystem Research of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
Ask authors/readers for more resources
American black bears are opportunistic foragers with a diet predominantly comprised of vegetation, but they also consume some vertebrates. They are known to prey on ungulates, especially neonates, with regional variations in predation pressure. In a study in northern Ontario, Canada, black bears were found to primarily consume herbaceous plants, fruits/seeds, moose, beaver, and insects during the calving season.
American black bears (Ursus americanus Pallas, 1780) are opportunistic foragers, and across most of their range in North America, their diet is predominantly vegetation with limited consumption of vertebrates and invertebrates. However, they are also predators of ungulates, especially neonates, with regional variation in the amount of predation pressure they exert. We used scat analysis to examine the diet of black bears during the calving season in a moose (Alces alces (Linnaeus, 1758)) - woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou (Gmelin, 1788)) system in the Boreal forest of northern Ontario, Canada. Bears consumed herbaceous plants (46.5%), fruits and (or) seeds (20.0%), moose (3.3% adults; 4.3% calves), American beaver (Castor canadensis Kuhl, 1820; 8.5%), and insects (mostly ants; 4.2%). Bears had the highest consumption of moose and beaver in early spring, before switching to a more vegetation-dominated diet. We did not detect evidence of caribou consumption. Based on our results, black bear consumption of moose, particularly neonates, may warrant further investigation.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available